Semiconductor Devices Having Field Electrode Trenches

ABSTRACT

A semiconductor device includes needle-shaped trenches in a semiconductor substrate, each of which includes a field electrode electrically insulated from the semiconductor substrate. Source doping regions and body doping regions of a transistor arrangement are formed in the semiconductor substrate between neighboring ones of the needle-shaped trenches. Gate trenches extend through the source doping regions and the body doping regions. The device further includes a first insulation layer above the semiconductor substrate, an etch stop layer on the first insulation layer, a second insulation layer on the etch stop layer, and an electrically conductive material on the second insulation layer and which contacts the field electrodes, source doping regions and body doping regions through openings which extend through the second insulation layer, etch stop layer and first insulation layer. Islands of the electrically conductive material are surrounded by portions of the second insulation layer above the gate trenches.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments relate to concepts for manufacturing semiconductor devicesand in particular to methods for forming a semiconductor devices,semiconductor devices and power semiconductor devices.

BACKGROUND

Various processes for manufacturing semiconductor devices are known.Shrinking the dimensions of structures of semiconductor devices becomesmore and more difficult. Further, surfaces with large topographies causedifficulties during formation and structuring of layers on top of suchsurfaces. This may lead to a high defect density.

SUMMARY

It may be a demand to provide an improved concept for formingsemiconductor devices, which allows to increase the yield and/or toreduce the defect density.

Some embodiments relate to a method for forming a semiconductor device.The method comprises forming a first insulation layer on a semiconductorsubstrate and forming a structured etch stop layer. Further, the methodcomprises depositing a second insulation layer after forming thestructured etch stop layer and forming a structured mask layer on thesecond insulation layer. Additionally, the method includes etchingportions of the second insulation layer uncovered by the structured masklayer and portions of the first insulation layer uncovered by thestructured etch stop layer to uncover at least one of a portion of thesemiconductor substrate and an electrode located within a trench.Further, the method comprises depositing electrically conductivematerial to form an electrical contact to at least one of the uncoveredelectrode and the uncovered portion of the semiconductor substrate.

Some embodiments relate to a semiconductor device comprising asemiconductor substrate and a layer stack comprising at least aninsulation layer, a structured etch stop layer and a lower most lateralwiring layer. The insulation layer is located adjacent to thesemiconductor substrate and the structured etch stop layer is locatedbetween the insulation layer and the lower most lateral wiring layer.Further, a wiring structure comprises a vertical wiring portionextending from the lower most lateral wiring layer vertically to atleast one of the semiconductor substrate and an electrode located withina trench. The vertical wiring portion and electrical conductive portionsof the lower most lateral wiring layer are manufacturablesimultaneously.

Some embodiments relate to a power semiconductor device comprising asemiconductor substrate comprising an electrical element arrangementlocated within a cell region of the semiconductor substrate. A blockingvoltage of the electrical element arrangement is higher than 10V.Further, the semiconductor device comprises a lateral wiring layer. Oneor more electrically conductive structures of the lateral wiring layerare embedded by insulating material of the lateral wiring layer.Portions of the insulating material of the lateral wiring layer arelocated within the cell region. Additionally, the semiconductor devicecomprises a metal layer located on the lateral wiring layer. The metallayer covers the portions of the insulating material of the lateralwiring layer within the cell region.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Some embodiments of apparatuses and/or methods will be described in thefollowing by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanyingfigures, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a flow chart of a method for forming a semiconductordevice;

FIG. 2a-2j show schematic cross sections of a part of a semiconductordevice at different manufacturing stages;

FIG. 3 shows a schematic cross section of another part of thesemiconductor device shown in FIG. 2a -2 j;

FIG. 4a shows a schematic top view of a part of a semiconductor deviceincluding a needle-shaped trench;

FIG. 4b-4e shows schematic cross sections of unit cells of differentsemiconductor devices;

FIG. 5 shows a schematic cross section of a part of a semiconductordevice; and

FIGS. 6a and 6b show a schematic cross section and a schematic top viewof a power semiconductor device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various example embodiments will now be described more fully withreference to the accompanying drawings in which some example embodimentsare illustrated. In the figures, the thicknesses of lines, layers and/orregions may be exaggerated for clarity.

Accordingly, while example embodiments are capable of variousmodifications and alternative forms, embodiments thereof are shown byway of example in the figures and will herein be described in detail. Itshould be understood, however, that there is no intent to limit exampleembodiments to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary,example embodiments are to cover all modifications, equivalents, andalternatives falling within the scope of the disclosure. Like numbersrefer to like or similar elements throughout the description of thefigures.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being“connected” or “coupled” to another element, it can be directlyconnected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may bepresent. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directlyconnected” or “directly coupled” to another element, there are nointervening elements present. Other words used to describe therelationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion(e.g., “between” versus “directly between,” “adjacent” versus “directlyadjacent,” etc.).

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of exampleembodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” areintended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearlyindicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms“comprises,” “comprising,” “includes” and/or “including,” when usedherein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps,operations, elements and/or components, but do not preclude the presenceor addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations,elements, components and/or groups thereof.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientificterms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art to which example embodiments belong. Itwill be further understood that terms, e.g., those defined in commonlyused dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that isconsistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art.However, should the present disclosure give a specific meaning to a termdeviating from a meaning commonly understood by one of ordinary skill,this meaning is to be taken into account in the specific context thisdefinition is given herein.

FIG. 1 shows a flow chart of a method for forming a semiconductor deviceaccording to an embodiment. The method 100 comprises forming 110 a firstinsulation layer on a semiconductor substrate and forming 120 astructured etch stop layer on the first insulation layer. Further, themethod 100 comprises depositing 130 a second insulation layer afterforming 120 the structured etch stop layer and forming 140 a structuredmask layer on the second insulation layer. Additionally, the method 100includes etching 150 portions of the second insulation layer uncoveredby the structured mask layer and portions of the first insulation layeruncovered by the structured etch stop layer to uncover a portion of thesemiconductor substrate and/or an electrode located within a trench.Further, the method 100 comprises depositing 160 electrically conductivematerial to form an electrical contact to the uncovered electrode and/orthe uncovered portion of the semiconductor substrate.

By using a structured mask layer between two insulation layers, alateral and vertical wiring structure for contacting electrodes intrenches and/or for contacting the semiconductor substrate may beformable. Further, a planarization by chemical-mechanical polishing maybe enabled, since the electrically conductive material is embedded inthe insulation layers. In this way, a substantially even surface may beprovided for following manufacturing processes. Therefore, the defectdensity may be reduced and/or the yield may be increased.

The first insulation layer may be formed 110 (e.g. deposited) directlyon a (front side) surface of the semiconductor substrate. Alternatively,a thin insulation layer (e.g. remaining from a thermal oxidation of agate oxide) may already cover the semiconductor substrate at the time offorming 110 the first insulation layer (e.g. pre metal dielectriclayer). The first insulation layer may be a silicon oxide layer (e.g.silicon dioxide, undoped silicon glass USG, phosphosilicate glass PSG orborophosphosilicate glass BPSG). The first insulation layer may comprisea thickness selected based on a voltage class of the semiconductordevice to be formed. For example, the first insulation layer maycomprise a thickness between 300 nm and 3 μm (or between 500 nm and 2μm).

The structured etch stop layer may be formed 120 directly on the firstinsulation layer (e.g. directly after forming the first insulationlayer). The structured etch stop layer may be formed 120 by depositingan etch stop layer and structuring the etch stop layer based on alithography process. Portions of the etch stop layer may be removedduring structuring at least at areas selected for a verticalelectrically conductive connection through the first insulation layer.The etch stop layer may comprise a thickness of less than 20% (or lessthan 10% or less than 5%) of a thickness of the first insulation layerand/or a thickness of the second insulation layer. For example, the etchstop layer may be a silicon nitride layer or any other material whichcan be etched selectively to oxide, for example.

The second insulation layer may be deposited 130 directly on thestructured etch stop layer (e.g. directly after forming the etch stoplayer). The second insulation layer may be a silicon oxide layer (e.g.silicon dioxide, phosphosilicate glass PSG or borophosphosilicate glassBPSG). The first insulation layer and the second insulation layer maycomprise substantially the same material (e.g. neglecting impurities anddopants as boron and phosphorous, for example). For example, the secondinsulation layer may comprise a thickness between 100 nm and 800 nm (orbetween 300 nm and 600 nm).

The structured mask layer may be formed 140 directly on the secondinsulation layer (e.g. directly after forming the second insulationlayer). The structured mask layer may be a photo resist layer or a hardmask layer (e.g. silicon nitride) structured based on a lithographyprocess. Portions of the mask layer may be removed during structuring atleast at areas selected for an electrically conductive wiring structureto be embedded in the second insulation layer.

After forming the structured mask layer, portions of the first andsecond insulation layer are etched 150 (e.g. by a dry chemical etchingprocess). The portions of the first and second insulation layer may beetched 150 simultaneously during the same etching process. The usedetching process may be a strongly anisotropic etching process to avoid asignificant under etch of the second insulation layer below thestructured mask layer and the first insulation layer below thestructured etch stop layer. For example, the etching process etchesportions of the second insulation layer, which are not covered by thestructured mask layer, but may stop or may be significantly deceleratedwhen reaching the structured etch stop layer. Consequently, onlyportions of the first insulation layer, which are not covered by thestructured etch stop layer, may be etched while the etching process iscontinued after reaching the level of the structured etch stop layer.The etching process may be continued until a portion of thesemiconductor substrate or an electrode within a trench (extending intothe semiconductor substrate) is uncovered.

For example, the first insulation layer and the second insulation layercomprise material selectively etchable (e.g. with significantlydifferent etch rates) with respect to the material of the structuredetch stop layer. For example, the etching 150 of the second insulationlayer and the first insulation layer may be performed by an etchingprocess (e.g. dry chemical etching) having an etch rate for material ofthe etch stop layer of less than 20% (or less than 10% or less than 5%)of an etch rate for material of the first insulation layer and/or formaterial of the second insulation layer. In this way, the firstinsulation layer remains at areas covered by the structured etch stoplayer during the etching 150.

After etching portions of the first insulation layer and the secondinsulation layer and uncovering one or more portions of the surface ofthe semiconductor substrate and/or one or more electrodes within one ormore trenches, electrically conductive material is deposited 160 (e.g.by sputtering, growing or chemical vapor deposition CVD). Theelectrically conductive material may be deposited as a singleelectrically conductive layer (e.g. tungsten layer, aluminum layer,copper layer or polysilicon layer) or as a stack of electricallyconductive layers (e.g. titanium layer, titanium nitride layer andtungsten layer Ti/TiN/W). The deposited electrically conductive materialmay fill the space of the portions of the first insulation layer and thesecond insulation layer removed during the preceding etching 150 (e.g.neglecting voids within the electrically conductive material due tomanufacturing effects). The electrically conductive material may bedeposited with a thickness larger than a sum of a thickness of the firstinsulation layer and a thickness of the second insulation layer. Thedeposited electrically conductive material implements an electricallyconductive contact to one or more portions of the semiconductorsubstrate (e.g. source doping region and/or body doping region of atransistor arrangement, cathode doping region or anode doping region ofa diode arrangement) and/or an electrode (e.g. field electrode or gateelectrode) within a trench (e.g. gate trench or field plate trench)extending into the semiconductor substrate.

For example, the deposited electrically conductive material embeddedwithin the first and second insulation layer may be formed based on adamascene or dual damascene process.

For example, the method 100 may further comprise removing a part of theelectrical conductive material until portions of the second insulationlayer are uncovered. For example, a part of the electrical conductivematerial is removed by chemical-mechanical polishing CMP or a plasmaetch planarization process. CMP may be applicable, since the relevantportion of the deposited electrical conductive material, which shouldremain, is embedded in the first and second insulation layer. The CMPprocess may be stopped at the second insulation layer. In this way, asubstantially planar surface may be provided for further processing(e.g. forming further layers). A surface of a lateral wiring layer (e.g.formed by the remaining insulation material of the second insulationlayer and the portion of the electrical conductive material embedded inthe remaining insulation material of the second insulation layer) may beobtained by CMP of the electrical conductive material. For example, theinsulation material of the second insulation layer remaining afteretching 150 and the portion of the electrically conductive materialembedded in the remaining insulation material of the second insulationlayer form a lateral wiring layer (e.g. lower most metal layer of thelayer stack of the semiconductor device).

The portions of the second insulation layer uncovered after removing thepart of the electrical conductive material may laterally surroundislands of the electrical conductive material. The portions of materialof the second insulation layer may suppress dishing effects during CMP,for example. For example, the portions of the remaining insulationmaterial of the second insulation layer surrounding electricalconductive material may be located within a cell region of thesemiconductor device to be formed. The portions of the remaininginsulation material located within the cell region may be uncoveredduring the chemical-mechanical polishing.

For example, the method 100 may further comprise etching an array offield electrode trenches (e.g. strip-shaped trenches or needle-shapedtrenches) into the semiconductor substrate and/or etching at least onegate trench (e.g. plurality of parallel gate trenches or a gate trenchgrid) into the semiconductor substrate before forming the firstinsulation layer.

Further, the method 100 may comprise forming field electrodes within thearray of field electrode trenches and/or forming one or more gateelectrodes of a transistor arrangement within the one or more gatetrenches before forming the first insulation layer. The electricalconductive material may be deposited 160 to form an electrical contactto the field electrodes within the array of field electrode trenchesand/or the one or more gate electrodes.

For example, the array of field electrode trenches may be an array ofneedle-shaped trenches. The needle-shaped trenches of the array ofneedle-shaped trenches may comprise a maximal lateral extension (e.g. inone lateral direction) of less than 2 times a minimal lateral extension(e.g. in another lateral direction), for example. For example, aneedle-shaped trench comprising a lateral circular shape has a maximallateral dimension equal to a minimal lateral dimension or aneedle-shaped trench comprising a lateral square shape has a maximallateral dimension equal to the length of a diagonal of the square and aminimal lateral dimension equal to the length of a side of the square.The needle-shaped trenches of the array of needle-shaped trenches maycomprise a minimal lateral dimension of more than 200 nm and/or lessthan 10 μm (or more than 500 nm and/or less than 3 μm), for example.Further, the needle-shaped trenches of the array of needle-shapedtrenches may comprise a depth of more than the minimal lateral extensionand/or more than the maximal lateral dimension. For example, theneedle-shaped trenches of the array of needle-shaped trenches may extendinto a depth of more than 10 μm (or more than 20 μm, more than 50 μm ormore than 80 μm). The needle-shaped trenches of the array ofneedle-shaped trenches may comprise a lateral geometry being one of arectangular geometry, square geometry, round geometry, hexagonalgeometry and octagonal geometry, for example.

The needle-shaped trenches of the array of needle-shaped trenches may bedistributed periodically over at least a portion (e.g. cell region) ofthe semiconductor substrate. The array of needle-shaped trenches may bedistributed in a two-dimensional grid of substantially equal distances,for example. For example, the array of needle-shaped trenches may bedistributed in a square grid, a rectangular grid, a staggered grid or ahexagonal grid. For example, the array of needle-shaped trenches maycomprise more than 50 (or more than 100, more than 200 or more than 500)needle-shaped trenches.

For example, the needle-shaped trenches of the array of needle-shapedtrenches may comprise field electrodes connected to a source wiringstructure of a transistor arrangement.

The field electrodes may enable to vertically enlarge a depletion regionof the transistor arrangement in a blocking state of the transistorstructure by bounding free charge carriers and may enable a higherblocking voltage, for example.

The field electrodes within the needle-shaped trenches of the array ofneedle-shaped trenches may be insulated from the semiconductor substrateby a field insulation layer within the needle-shaped trenches. The gateelectrode within the gate trench may be insulated from a channel regionof the transistor arrangement located within the semiconductor substrateby a gate insulation layer within the gate trench. For example, athickness of the field insulation layer may be larger than two times (orlarger than 5 times or larger than 10 times) a thickness of the gateinsulation layer. The field insulation layer located within theneedle-shaped trenches and/or the gate insulation layer within the gatetrench may be oxide layers, for example. The field electrodes and thegate electrode may comprise poly silicon, for example.

A source wiring structure of a transistor arrangement may be connectedto the semiconductor substrate (e.g. connected to one or more sourcedoping regions of the transistor arrangement). For example, the sourcewiring structure may comprise metal (e.g. aluminum, copper and/ortungsten) and/or polysilicon. The source wiring structure may connectsource doping regions of the semiconductor device (e.g. of thetransistor arrangement) to a source contact interface (e.g. source pad)for connecting an external electrical device or an external sourcepotential to one or more source regions of the transistor arrangement,for example. At least a part of the source wiring structure may beformed by the electrical conductive material embedded in the secondinsulation layer.

A gate wiring structure of the transistor arrangement may be connectedto one or more gate electrodes of the transistor arrangement, forexample. For example, the gate wiring structure may comprise metal (e.g.aluminum, copper and/or tungsten) and/or polysilicon. The gate wiringstructure may connect one or more gate electrodes of the semiconductordevice to a gate driver circuit implemented on the semiconductorsubstrate or a gate contact interface (e.g. gate pad) for connecting anexternal electrical device to the one or more gate electrodes of thetransistor arrangement, for example. At least a part of the gate wiringstructure may be formed by the electrical conductive material embeddedin the second insulation layer.

For example, a first portion of the electrical conductive materialembedded in the second insulation layer is used to form a part of asource wiring structure of a transistor arrangement and a second portionof the electrical conductive material embedded in the second insulationlayer is used to form a part of a gate wiring structure of thetransistor arrangement.

The semiconductor substrate may be a silicon substrate. Alternatively,the semiconductor substrate may be a wide band gap semiconductorsubstrate having a band gap larger than the band gap of silicon (1.1eV). For example, the semiconductor substrate may be a silicon carbide(SiC)-based semiconductor substrate, or gallium arsenide (GaAs)-basedsemiconductor substrate, or a gallium nitride (GaN)-based semiconductorsubstrate. The semiconductor substrate may be a semiconductor wafer or asemiconductor die.

For example, the vertical direction and a vertical dimension orthicknesses of layers may be measured orthogonal to a front side surfaceof the semiconductor substrate and a lateral direction and lateraldimensions may be measured in parallel to the front side surface of thesemiconductor substrate.

The semiconductor substrate may comprise a cell region (or activeregion) laterally surrounded by an edge termination region. The cellregion may be a region of the semiconductor substrate used to conductmore than 90% of a current through the semiconductor substrate in anon-state or conducting state of the transistor arrangement (or the wholesemiconductor device). For example, the cell region may be an areacontaining all source regions of the transistor arrangement or of alltransistor structures of the semiconductor device. The edge terminationregion may be located between an edge of the semiconductor substrate andthe cell region in order to support or block or reduce or dissipate amaximal voltage applied between the front side surface of thesemiconductor substrate and a back side surface of the semiconductorsubstrate within the cell region laterally towards the edge of thesemiconductor substrate. For example, the needle-shaped trenches of thearray of needle-shaped trenches are arranged within the cell region ofthe semiconductor substrate of the semiconductor device. Thesemiconductor device may further comprise a plurality of edgetermination needle-shaped trenches located within the edge terminationregion laterally surrounding the cell region of the semiconductordevice. The plurality of edge termination needle-shaped trenches maycomprise field electrodes connected to the source wiring structure ofthe transistor arrangement. The plurality of edge terminationneedle-shaped trenches may improve the reliability of the edgetermination, may enable a reduction of the space required by the edgetermination region and/or enables an increase of a maximally bearablevoltage applied to the semiconductor device.

The transistor arrangement (e.g. insulated gate field effect transistorIGFET, metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor MOSFET orinsulated gate bipolar transistor IGBT) may be a vertical transistorstructure conducting current between a front side surface of thesemiconductor substrate and a back side surface of the semiconductorsubstrate. For example, the transistor arrangement of the semiconductordevice comprises a plurality of source doping regions connected to asource wiring structure, a plurality of gate electrodes or a gateelectrode grid connected to a gate wiring structure and a back sidedrain metallization.

For example, the method 100 further comprise implanting dopants into thesemiconductor substrate to form one or more doping regions (e.g. sourceregion, drain region, body region, cathode region and/or anode region)of an electrical element arrangement (e.g. transistor arrangement ordiode arrangement) of the semiconductor device to be formed. A breakdownvoltage or blocking voltage of the electrical element arrangement may behigher than 10V.

The semiconductor device to be formed may be a power semiconductordevice. A power semiconductor device or an electrical structure (e.g.transistor arrangement of the semiconductor device and/or diodearrangement of the semiconductor device) of the power semiconductordevice may have a breakdown voltage or blocking voltage of more than 10V(e.g. a breakdown voltage of 10 V, 20 V or 50V), more than 100 V (e.g. abreakdown voltage of 200 V, 300 V, 400V or 500V) or more than 500 V(e.g. a breakdown voltage of 600 V, 700 V, 800V or 1000V) or more than1000 V (e.g. a breakdown voltage of 1200 V, 1500 V, 1700V, 2000V, 3300Vor 6500V), for example.

FIG. 2a-2j show schematic cross sections of a part of a semiconductordevice at different manufacturing stages according to an embodiment. Forexample, FIGS. 2a-2j show processing steps of a method for forming asemiconductor device as described above (e.g. FIG. 1) or below.

FIG. 2a shows a schematic cross section of needle-shaped trenches 210 ofan array of needle-shaped trenches, field electrodes 212 located withinthe needle-shaped trenches 210, a gate electrode 202 located within agate trench, source doping regions 206 and body doping regions 204 of atransistor arrangement and a first insulation layer 220 (e.g. BPSG). Thefirst insulation layer 220 may comprise a thickness between 300 nm and 3μm (or between 500 nm and 2 μm, for example, 1400 nm).

Further, the semiconductor substrate comprises a drift region locatedvertically between the body doping regions 204 and a back side surfaceof the semiconductor substrate 200, a drain doping region (e.g. of aMOSFET) or a collector doping region (e.g. of an IGBT) or a highly dopedbulk region of the semiconductor substrate.

Then an etch stop layer 222 (e.g. silicon nitride or another layer,which can be etched selectively to oxide) is deposited on the firstinsulation layer (first inter layer dielectric ILD1) as shown in FIG. 2b.

Afterwards a photo resist layer 224 is deposited on a substantiallyplanar surface (formed by the etch stop layer) and structured based on alithography process (litho contact). Further, the etch stop layer 222 isstructured by an etching process (e.g. nitride etch) as shown in FIG. 2c.

Then, the photo resist layer 224 is removed and a second insulationlayer 230 (second inter layer dielectric ILD2) is deposited as shown inFIG. 2d . The second insulation layer 230 may be a USG layer, a PSGlayer or a BPSG layer, for example. The second insulation layer 230 maycomprise a thickness between 100 nm and 800 nm (or between 300 nm and600 nm, for example, 500 nm). Optionally, an additional reflow process(e.g. heating the second insulation layer above a reflow temperature)may be performed.

Afterwards, a photo resist layer 232 is deposited on a substantiallyplanar surface (formed by the second insulation layer) and structuredbased on a lithography process (litho via) as shown in FIG. 2 e.

Then, uncovered portions of the first and second insulation layers aresimultaneously etched by an anisotropic etching process (e.g. drychemical etching) as shown in FIG. 2f . For example, an oxide etchselective to nitride and silicon (e.g. selectivity to nitride up to 20:1and selectivity to silicon even higher) is performed. The etch stoplayer 222 works as buried etch stop during the simultaneously etching ofthe first and second insulation layer. The simultaneously etching of thefirst and second insulation layer uncovers the field electrodes withinthe needle-shaped trenches and source doping regions 206 and body dopingregions 204 at a surface of the semiconductor substrate 200.

Afterwards, the photo resist layer 232 is removed and grooves are etchedinto the semiconductor substrate 200 at the source doping regions 206and body doping regions 204 as shown in FIG. 2g . Further, highly dopedcontact regions at the surface of the source doping regions 206 and bodydoping regions 204 are implanted (contact I², Pt I²) to enable an ohmiccontact to the source doping regions 206 and body doping regions 204,for example.

Then, titanium and titanium nitride is deposited and a titanium silicideformation is effected. Further, tungsten 240 (electrically conductivematerial) is deposited by chemical vapor deposition (W-CVD) as shown inFIG. 2h . The tungsten may be overfilled and high stress conformal.

Afterwards, the tungsten 240 is partly removed or thinned by CMP orplasma etch planarization with a stop on the oxide of the secondinsulation layer as shown in FIG. 2i . Islands of electricallyconductive material may be surrounded by portions 244 of the secondinsulation layer, which may work as anti dishing pillars during the CMP.

Then, a power metal layer 250 (e.g. aluminum copper AlCu) is depositedand structured as shown in FIG. 2j . At least a part of the power metallayer 250 may be located at a source pad position or may implement atleast a part of a source pad, for example. The field electrodes 212within the needle-shaped trenches 210, the source doping regions 206 ofthe transistor arrangement and the body doping regions 204 of thetransistor arrangement are electrically connected to power metal layer250 through the deposited tungsten 240 (electrically conductivematerial).

By using the proposed manufacturing method, all litho steps may be doneon (substantially) even surfaces and CMP can stop on ILD2, for example.Also less dishing due to ILD2 structures in the cell field may beachievable.

FIG. 2a-2j show schematic cross sections through an edge of a cellregion of a transistor arrangement orthogonal to a gate trench. The cellregion is shown at the right side of these figures and the edgetermination region is shown at the left side of the figures. No gate aswell as source and body regions are located between the two outermostneedle-shaped trenches 210. Coming from the left side (chip edge), firstneither body nor source are implemented, then body in portions of theedge termination is implemented and then in active cell field body aswell as source is implemented.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic cross section of another part (gate padposition) of the semiconductor device shown in FIG. 2a-2j . FIG. 3 showsa cross section of an edge of the cell region in parallel to a gatetrench 201. The gate electrode 202 is electrical connected to a gate padthrough an electrical contact between the gate electrode 202 and aportion of the deposited Ti/TiN/W layer structure 240 and an electricalcontact between a portion of the power metal layer 250 (e.g.implementing a gate ring or gate runner) and a portion of the depositedTi/TiN/W layer structure 240.

More details and aspects of the method described in connection with FIG.2a-2j and 3 are mentioned in connection with the proposed concept or oneor more examples described above. The described method may comprise oneor more additional optional features corresponding to one or moreaspects of the proposed concept or one or more examples described above(e.g. FIG. 1) or below (e.g. FIG. 4a-6b ).

A transistor arrangement of a semiconductor device to be formed maycomprise a plurality of transistor cells (e.g. more than 50 cells, morethan 100 cells or more than 500 cells) within the cell region of thesemiconductor device.

FIG. 4a shows a schematic top view of a part of a transistor cell of asemiconductor device including a needle-shaped trench. The needle shapedtrench 210 comprises laterally a circular shape. Further, the etch stoplayer 222 comprises a square-shaped (or round or octagonal or hexagonal)opening 410 (contact layer) for the vertical electrical contact throughthe first insulation layer to the field electrode within theneedle-shaped trench 210 and the source and body region of thetransistor cell of the transistor arrangement. The opening 410 isslightly larger than the needle-shaped trench 210 to enable a contact tothe source and body region of the transistor cell at an edge of theneedle-shaped trench 210. The electrical conductive material 240 (vialayer) is laterally surrounded by insulating material within the secondinsulation layer 230 (e.g. oxide for CMP stop).

FIG. 4b-4e show schematic cross sections of transistor cells ofdifferent semiconductor devices. For example, mesa and needle contactunit cells are shown. Each of the cross sections shows a needle-shapedtrench 210 and neighboring gate trenches with gate electrodes 202. Thevariants may differ in the aspect ratio for easier W-CVD fill and/oroxide/tungsten ratio for better W-CMP anti dishing, for example.

FIG. 4b shows a cross section of a transistor cells corresponding to thetop view shown in FIG. 4a . Portions 244 of the second insulation layer230 surrounding the electrical conductive material 240 embedded in thesecond insulation layer 230 may be used for CMP stop. The etch stoplayer is used to define the geometry of the vertical electrical contactthrough the first insulation layer 220 and the electrical conductivematerial (tungsten) occupies a larger lateral area within the secondinsulation layer 230 than in the first insulation layer 220.

In comparison to the example shown in FIG. 4b , the etch stop layer isremoved within the cell region of the semiconductor device shown in FIG.4c . The etch stop layer is used for implementing wiring structures(e.g. source wiring fingers, gate wiring fingers and/or gate runner) atthe edge of the cell region. Consequently, the first insulation layer220 and the second insulation layer form a thick insulation layer withinthe cell region.

In comparison to the example shown in FIG. 4c , a core of insulatingmaterial 420 remains in the center of the electrical conductive material240 of the semiconductor device shown in FIG. 4 d.

In comparison to the example shown in FIG. 4b , a core of insulatingmaterial 420 remains in the center of the electrical conductive material240 of the semiconductor device shown in FIG. 4 e.

More details and aspects of the examples described in connection withFIG. 4a-4e are mentioned in connection with the proposed concept or oneor more examples described above. The described examples may compriseone or more additional optional features corresponding to one or moreaspects of the proposed concept or one or more examples described above(e.g. FIG. 1-3) or below (e.g. FIG. 5-6 b).

FIG. 5 shows a schematic cross section of a part of a semiconductordevice according to an embodiment. The semiconductor device 500comprises a semiconductor substrate 502 and a layer stack comprising atleast an insulation layer 520, a structured etch stop layer 522 and alower most lateral wiring layer. The insulation layer 520 is locatedadjacent to the semiconductor substrate 502 and the structured etch stoplayer 522 is located between the insulation layer 520 and the lower mostlateral wiring layer. Further, a wiring structure comprises a verticalwiring portion 542 extending from the lower most lateral wiring layervertically to the semiconductor substrate 502 (as shown in FIG. 5)and/or an electrode located within a trench (not shown in FIG. 5). Thevertical wiring portion 542 and electrical conductive portions 540 ofthe lower most lateral wiring layer are manufacturable simultaneously.

By using a structured mask layer between two insulation layers, alateral and vertical wiring structure for contacting electrodes intrenches and/or for contacting the semiconductor substrate may beformable. Further, a planarization by chemical-mechanical polishing maybe enabled, since the electrically conductive material is embedded inthe insulation layers. In this way, a substantially even surface may beprovided for following manufacturing processes. Therefore, the defectdensity may be reduced and/or the yield may be increased.

The lower most lateral wiring layer comprises portions of insulatingmaterial 530 (e.g. silicon oxide) embedding electrical conductivematerial 540 (e.g. tungsten).

For example, the vertical wiring portion 542 and electrical conductiveportions of the lower most lateral wiring layer are manufacturable orformable (manufactured or formed) simultaneously, since the verticalwiring portion and electrically conductive portions of the lower mostlateral wiring layer may comprise substantially the same materialcomposition (e.g. Ti/TiN/W, aluminum or copper). For example, theinsulating material of the lower most lateral wiring layer and thematerial of the insulation layer 520 may be etched by the same etchingprocess.

The wiring structure may comprise one or more electrical conductivematerial portions within the lower most lateral wiring layer and one ormore vertical wiring portions extending vertically through theinsulation layer. Further, the wiring structure may compriseelectrically conductive portions within one or more lateral wiringlayers and/or one or more vertical wiring layers above the lower mostlateral wiring layer. The wiring structure may be a source wiringstructure or a gate wiring structure of a transistor arrangement.

A lateral wiring layer (e.g. metal layer of a layer stack of asemiconductor device) may be a layer for implementing lateral electricalconnections between vertical electrical connections (vias) connectinglateral wiring layers. A vertical wiring layer (e.g. via layer of alayer stack of a semiconductor device) may be a layer for implementingvertical electrical connections (vias) between lateral wiring layers.

The layer stack of the semiconductor device 500 may comprise at leastone vertical wiring layer, which is implemented by the insulation layer520 and one or more vertical wiring portions 542 of one or more wiringstructures extending vertically through the insulation layer 520, and atleast one lateral wiring layer, which is implemented by the lower mostlateral wiring layer. The layer stack of the semiconductor device 500may comprise one or more lateral wiring layers and/or vertical wiringlayers above the lower most lateral wiring layer. The lower most lateralwiring layer may be the lateral wiring layer of the layer stack of thesemiconductor device 500 located closest to the semiconductor substrate502.

For example, the lower most lateral wiring layer may be the upper mostlateral wiring layer as well, if the lower most lateral wiring layer isthe only lateral wiring layer of the semiconductor device.

More details and aspects of the semiconductor device 500 are mentionedin connection with the proposed concept or one or more examplesdescribed above. The semiconductor device 500 may comprise one or moreadditional optional features corresponding to one or more aspects of theproposed concept or one or more examples described above (e.g. FIG. 1-4e) or below (e.g. FIG. 6a-6b ).

FIGS. 6a and 6b show a schematic cross section and a schematic top viewof a power semiconductor device according to an embodiment. The powersemiconductor device 600 comprises a semiconductor substrate 602comprising an electrical element arrangement (e.g. transistorarrangement or diode arrangement) located within a cell region 604 ofthe semiconductor substrate 602. A blocking voltage of the electricalelement arrangement is higher than 10V. Further, the semiconductordevice 600 comprises a lateral wiring layer. One or more electricallyconductive structures 632 of the lateral wiring layer are embedded byinsulating material of the lateral wiring layer. Portions 634 of theinsulating material of the lateral wiring layer are located within thecell region 604 of the semiconductor device 600. Additionally, thesemiconductor device 600 comprises a metal layer 650 located on thelateral wiring layer. The metal layer 650 covers the portions 634 of theinsulating material of the lateral wiring layer located within the cellregion 604. For example, the metal layer 650 is in contact with theportions 634 of the insulating material of the lateral wiring layerlocated within the cell region 604. The metal layer 650 may be formed onthe portions 634 of the insulating material without another insulatingmaterial layer formed in between. For example, the metal layer 650 maybe formed on a substantially even surface formed by the portions 634 ofthe insulating material of the lateral wiring layer and the one or moreelectrically conductive structures 632 of the lateral wiring layerembedded by the insulating material of the lateral wiring layer.

The portions of insulating material within the cell region may suppressdishing effects during CMP, for example. In this way, a substantiallyeven surface may be provided for following manufacturing processes.Therefore, the defect density may be reduced and/or the yield may beincreased.

For example, the semiconductor device comprises an array ofneedle-shaped trenches within the cell region 604. The needle-shapedtrenches may comprise field electrodes. Each field electrode of theneedle-shaped trenches may be connected to an electrically conductivestructures 632 of the lateral wiring layer embedded by insulatingmaterial. For example, the electrically conductive structures 632 of thelateral wiring layer may form islands of electrically conductivematerial laterally surrounded by insulating material of the lateralwiring layer within the cell region 604.

More details and aspects of the semiconductor device 600 are mentionedin connection with the proposed concept or one or more examplesdescribed above. The semiconductor device 600 may comprise one or moreadditional optional features corresponding to one or more aspects of theproposed concept or one or more examples described above (e.g. FIG. 1-5)or below.

Some embodiments relate to a damascene contact for needle trenches. Forexample, a damascene based BEOL (back end of line) process and structurefor contacting Si-Mesa (silicon mesa), Needle Trench field plate andgate trench in a needle trench device may be proposed. Based on theproposed concept, more reliable devices due to less defectdensity/higher yield at the same/similar manufacturing costs may beenabled.

Structural features may be that the silicon Si-mesa (e.g. comprisingsource and body) and the field plate of the needle trench are connectedvia a contact unit cell to the metallic source pad. Further, the unitcells may be arranged in a square or hexagonal lattice. The plugmaterial (material of the vertical connection through the firstinsulation layer) of one unit cell may be electrically isolated byILD1/2 from its neighboring unit cells. Furthermore, the gaterunner maybe connected to the gate trench via a wire embedded in ILD2 (e.g. notexposed on top of ILD1). Additionally, the edge termination trenches maybe connected to the source pad via a wire embedded in ILD2 (e.g. notexposed on top of ILD1).

BEOL structures may have the function of contacting Si-Mesa, Field Plateand Gatetrench. Some used BEOL structures and processes may providedifficulties, for example, due to small oxide structures and patterningof the tungsten layer, using resist and plasma etch.

According to an aspect of the proposed concept, no small oxide bars maybe needed to divide laterally large and deep tungsten structures inseveral laterally smaller portions due to the applicable CMP process.Further, a lower aspect ratio and/or high stress tungsten deposition maybe possible, because a continuous W-plate can be split into unit cells.Furthermore, less mechanical stress may be caused and/or a moreconformal fill may be enabled. Additionally, tungsten W and contactlitho may be preformed on a (substantially) even surface. The topographymay be reduced. Further, CMP process with endpoint and/or overpolish maybe applicable.

Example embodiments may further provide a computer program having aprogram code for performing one of the above methods, when the computerprogram is executed on a computer or processor. A person of skill in theart would readily recognize that acts of various above-described methodsmay be performed by programmed computers. Herein, some exampleembodiments are also intended to cover program storage devices, e.g.,digital data storage media, which are machine or computer readable andencode machine-executable or computer-executable programs ofinstructions, wherein the instructions perform some or all of the actsof the above-described methods. The program storage devices may be,e.g., digital memories, magnetic storage media such as magnetic disksand magnetic tapes, hard drives, or optically readable digital datastorage media. Further example embodiments are also intended to covercomputers programmed to perform the acts of the above-described methodsor (field) programmable logic arrays ((F)PLAs) or (field) programmablegate arrays ((F)PGAs), programmed to perform the acts of theabove-described methods.

The description and drawings merely illustrate the principles of thedisclosure. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the artwill be able to devise various arrangements that, although notexplicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of thedisclosure and are included within its spirit and scope. Furthermore,all examples recited herein are principally intended expressly to beonly for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding theprinciples of the disclosure and the concepts contributed by theinventor(s) to furthering the art, and are to be construed as beingwithout limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions.Moreover, all statements herein reciting principles, aspects, andembodiments of the disclosure, as well as specific examples thereof, areintended to encompass equivalents thereof.

Functional blocks denoted as “means for . . . ” (performing a certainfunction) shall be understood as functional blocks comprising circuitrythat is configured to perform a certain function, respectively. Hence, a“means for s.th.” may as well be understood as a “means configured to orsuited for s.th.”. A means configured to perform a certain functiondoes, hence, not imply that such means necessarily is performing thefunction (at a given time instant).

It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that any blockdiagrams herein represent conceptual views of illustrative circuitryembodying the principles of the disclosure. Similarly, it will beappreciated that any flow charts, flow diagrams, state transitiondiagrams, pseudo code, and the like represent various processes whichmay be substantially represented in computer readable medium and soexecuted by a computer or processor, whether or not such computer orprocessor is explicitly shown.

Furthermore, the following claims are hereby incorporated into theDetailed Description, where each claim may stand on its own as aseparate embodiment. While each claim may stand on its own as a separateembodiment, it is to be noted that—although a dependent claim may referin the claims to a specific combination with one or more otherclaims—other embodiments may also include a combination of the dependentclaim with the subject matter of each other dependent or independentclaim. Such combinations are proposed herein unless it is stated that aspecific combination is not intended. Furthermore, it is intended toinclude also features of a claim to any other independent claim even ifthis claim is not directly made dependent to the independent claim.

It is further to be noted that methods disclosed in the specification orin the claims may be implemented by a device having means for performingeach of the respective acts of these methods.

Further, it is to be understood that the disclosure of multiple acts orfunctions disclosed in the specification or claims may not be construedas to be within the specific order. Therefore, the disclosure ofmultiple acts or functions will not limit these to a particular orderunless such acts or functions are not interchangeable for technicalreasons. Furthermore, in some embodiments a single act may include ormay be broken into multiple sub acts. Such sub acts may be included andpart of the disclosure of this single act unless explicitly excluded.

As used herein, the terms “having”, “containing”, “including”,“comprising” and the like are open ended terms that indicate thepresence of stated elements or features, but do not preclude additionalelements or features. The articles “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural as well as the singular, unless the context clearlyindicates otherwise.

Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and describedherein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the artthat a variety of alternate and/or equivalent implementations may besubstituted for the specific embodiments shown and described withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention. This application isintended to cover any adaptations or variations of the specificembodiments discussed herein. Therefore, it is intended that thisinvention be limited only by the claims and the equivalents thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A semiconductor device, comprising: asemiconductor substrate; needle-shaped trenches in the semiconductorsubstrate, each needle-shaped trench including a field electrodeelectrically insulated from the semiconductor substrate; source dopingregions and body doping regions of a transistor arrangement in thesemiconductor substrate between neighboring ones of the needle-shapedtrenches; gate trenches extending through the source doping regions andthe body doping regions; a first insulation layer above thesemiconductor substrate; an etch stop layer on the first insulationlayer, the etch stop layer being etchable selective to the firstinsulation layer; a second insulation layer on the etch stop layer; andan electrically conductive material on the second insulation layer,wherein the electrically conductive material contacts the fieldelectrodes, the source doping regions and the body doping regionsthrough openings which extend through the second insulation layer, theetch stop layer and the first insulation layer, wherein islands of theelectrically conductive material are surrounded by portions of thesecond insulation layer above the gate trenches.
 2. The semiconductordevice of claim 1, wherein the first insulation layer has a thicknessbetween 300 nm and 3 μm.
 3. The semiconductor device of claim 1, whereinthe second insulation layer has a thickness between 100 nm and 800 nm.4. The semiconductor device of claim 1, wherein the electricallyconductive material is tungsten.
 5. The semiconductor device of claim 1,further comprising a power metal layer on the electrically conductivematerial.
 6. The semiconductor device of claim 5, wherein at least apart of the power metal layer is located at a source pad position orimplements at least a part of a source pad.
 7. The semiconductor deviceof claim 5, wherein the source doping regions and the body dopingregions are electrically connected to the power metal layer through theelectrically conductive material.
 8. The semiconductor device of claim5, wherein the power metal layer comprises AlCu.
 9. The semiconductordevice of claim 5, wherein above the gate trenches, portions of thesecond insulation layer are vertically interposed between the etch stoplayer and the power metal layer.
 10. The semiconductor device of claim1, further comprising an edge termination region in the semiconductorsubstrate and including some of the needle-shaped trenches but none ofthe body doping regions and none of the gate trenches.
 11. Thesemiconductor device of claim 1, wherein the electrically conductivematerial occupies a larger lateral area within the second insulationlayer than in the first insulation layer.
 12. The semiconductor deviceof claim 1, wherein the etch stop layer is omitted from a cell region ofthe transistor arrangement.
 13. The semiconductor device of claim 1,further comprising a core of insulating material in a center of theelectrically conductive material in a region of the electricallyconductive material which vertically extends to the field electrodes.14. The semiconductor device of claim 1, wherein the needle-shapedtrenches have a circular shape in a plane parallel to a main surface ofthe semiconductor substrate, and wherein a rectilinear-shaped opening isformed in the etch stop layer above the needle-shaped trenches.
 15. Thesemiconductor device of claim 14, wherein the rectilinear-shapedopenings in the etch stop layer are larger than a diameter of theneedle-shaped trenches.
 16. The semiconductor device of claim 1, whereinthe electrically conductive material contacts the source doping regionsand the body doping regions along a recessed region of the semiconductorsubstrate.
 17. The semiconductor device of claim 1, wherein betweenneighboring ones of the needle-shaped trenches, the electricallyconductive material laterally extends along a surface of the etch stoplayer which faces away from the semiconductor substrate, and whereinabove the needle-shaped trenches, the electrically conductive materialvertically extends to the field electrodes through the openings in thesecond insulation layer, the etch stop layer and the first insulationlayer.
 18. The semiconductor device of claim 1, wherein the portions ofthe second insulation layer above the gate trenches contact a surface ofthe etch stop layer which faces away from the semiconductor substrate.